Indian football crisis deepens as I-League too finds no takers

Panaji: Indian football has never experienced anything like this before.
First the top-tier Indian Super League (ISL), and now the I-League, Indian football’s second division, has also been left without a commercial partner, throwing the future of leagues up in the air.
The All India Football Federation’s bid to find a taker for the commercial rights of I-League ended with no company making a bid. A request for proposal (RFP) was floated on Nov 28, with Dec 14 kept as deadline day for submissions of bids. However, when the federation opened the bids late on Sunday, the result wasn’t surprising.
“There are no bids for the I-League too,” a senior official told TOI. “When nobody turned up for the pre-bid meeting last week (Dec 6) and there were no (official) queries, it was clear that there would be no takers for the commercial rights. Things are not looking good at the moment.”
Till last month, there were companies who had shown more than just passing interest in making a bid for the I-League rights, even more than the ISL, whose value was pegged at a minimum of Rs 37.5 crore annually. At Rs 6 crore for the three divisions of I-League (I-League: Rs 4 crore, I-League 2: Rs 1.25 crore and I-League 3: Rs 75 Lakh) and a networth of Rs 30 crore for potential bidders, there seemed to be no impediments.
The AIFF has only received a lone bid of Rs 5 crore for the Indian Women’s League (IWL) commercial rights, but documents are yet to be signed.
“We have to wait for the sports ministry report to be submitted to the Supreme Court. Probably there will be a joint solution for both leagues,” said another official.
AIFF’s failure to attract bids for the commercial rights has left clubs worried with many wondering if they will have any competition to play for this season. Most clubs have stopped training due to the uncertainty.
According to sources, I-League clubs are mulling over the possibility of approaching the Supreme Court with their concerns, given that the apex court is expected to reassemble this week to listen to the sports ministry’s suggestion. At the last hearing, the Centre was urged to engage with the clubs since there were growing concerns among clubs, players, officials and employees.
The 15-year master rights agreement between AIFF and its commercial partner, Reliance-subsidiary FSDL, ended at midnight on Dec 8.